When it was generally agreed that the needs of Byzantium required a strong man, not a regency ran by a woman, a palace eunuch was used to recover the signed oaths from the patriarch Xiphilinos. The latter seems to have been convinced of the need for change, and probably thought that Konstantinos X's arrangements were inspired by personal jealousy. In some sources Romanos (IV) joined Eudokia in hatching the plan. Most sources claim that Bardas, Xiphilinos' brother (or nephew) was involved. He was a libertine who was falsely claimed to be Eudokia's choice for the throne. When convinced of this, Xiphilinos consulted individual senators, who were persuaded or bribed to agree. He sent the oaths to the empress, who destroyed them, then prepared for marriage to Romanos